UNEP DTU Partnership has joined a new project to improve energy efficiency of the global building supply chain. The project is led by UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and aims to deliver high-performance buildings in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Buildings play a key role in reducing emissions, improving energy security and increasing circularity in the economy. The building and construction sector is integral to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, as it is responsible for approximately 40 percent of energy- and process-related greenhouse gas emissions.
The new project is designed to enable delivery of high-performance buildings by addressing the readiness of industry to deliver the needed materials, technologies, and equipment. It also aims to connect energy efficiency in buildings with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the beneficiary countries.
From UNEP DTU Partnership, several experts will focus on:
- Supporting the development of pilot projects, including analysing financing options, in cooperation with governments of beneficiary countries, financial institutions and companies.
- Implementing pilot projects demonstrating best practice recommendations in conjunction with learnings from training and technical assistance programmes throughout the building sector supply chain
- Assessing market and financing mechanisms to support the introduction of new energy and resource-efficient products into the value chain and development of a roadmap to support their implementation.
Other project implementing partners include United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Offices in the beneficiary countries, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), Passivhaus Institut (Germany), Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production (EEP) (Germany) and Green Building Alliance (United States).
The International Climate Initiative (IKI), of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), will finance the project.